Be Careful Making Wishes in the Dark
by dreaming.dreams.of.disney
Summary: Bot fighting really isn't that bad. They didn't have to leave the café. However, Hiro is glad that they did when he finds the door behind the wallpaper. / Coraline AU. Rated T for violence, horror, etc. in later chapters.
1. Hiro 2 0

**Hi, and thank you so much for all the positive feedback on _Protect Him_. It was my first time writing as any of the BH6 characters, and the favourites and reviews I got for it made me really happy, so all I can say is thanks! I decided to try my hand at an ongoing series, and this crossover seemed to fit just right for a multi-chapter fic, so I decided to go for it. I can't really give an exact time frame for when this will be updated, I guess it will just be whenever I finish each chapter, but I hope I get as much positive feedback for this as I did with my last fic. It makes me really happy to know people enjoy my work!  
**

**I can only apologise, not an awful lot happens in this chapter, it's mainly just setting everything up for the story to begin. I'm not too proud of the writing in some parts of this, either, but I just wanted to get this bit out of the way and get to the fun stuff faster. Chapter two will progress the plot a little more, though, and I hope you still enjoy this!**

* * *

**Chapter One: **_Hiro 2.0_

Hiro understood _why_ he and his family had to move out. That didn't mean he was happy about it, though.  
In fact, he couldn't be more peeved by the decision. Just because he went bot fighting a few times, he got into a few scuffles, and the other guys involved found the café, they suddenly had to evacuate- it would have been fine, if everyone stopped fussing so much! If his aunt and brother had listened to a word he had been saying instead of just yelling at him, he would have assured them that he had it all under control. He could build some more robots; bigger, stronger ones, meant for attacking humans rather than other bots. That would keep those goons away, for sure- if they ever decided to come back, that was!

But _no_, Aunt Cass just _had_ to give up her thriving business in the café, and they _had_ to move out into some dumb house. It really brought him down- this place had been strategically chosen, as it was closer to Tadashi's stupid nerd school, yet made it much more difficult for Hiro to sneak out and go bot fighting. Typical. It wasn't _that_ bad, what he did- he just wanted something to _do_. Being this smart was so _boring_. Kids his age were supposed to still be in high school, grumbling about all the homework they were getting and anticipating any breaks they could get.

It had taken him nine years to get through elementary, middle and high school, and it had been a year since then. He _could_ go to college, but what for? That was just learning about more boring stuff that he was already good at. That was why he did all these illegal things- it was the only fun thing that kept him busy now that he wasn't forced to go to school. He didn't have friends his age anymore; they'd all either taken an immediate dislike to him once he graduated because he was way smarter than them (they said something about him showing off about it, but he had figured out that it was just a cover-up for their jealousy), or tried and failed to keep in contact because of school and new friends and everything. Sure, all his brother's friends liked him, but they were, what? Three, four years older than him? It wasn't the same. Besides, as much as he and Tadashi had bonded over the years, they needed some time apart.

This was clear from their petty little argument in the back of Aunt Cass' car.  
"You know, we didn't _have_ to move," Hiro grumbled to no one in particular. His chocolate eyes followed a single raindrop out of the thousands lashing against the window, his head resting miserably against the glass. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tadashi, his elder brother who was sitting on the other side of him, turn to glare at him.  
"Um, yes we did. In case you don't remember, some thugs broke into our _house_, Hiro."  
The younger brother groaned and sat up so that he could look the other boy square in the face. "_When_ will you stop blaming this on me? Is it _my_ fault those thugs decided of their own free will to track me down? I could've warned them off, piece of cake!"

"Hiro! You're fourteen! Those men are _criminals_, and you think you're clever for challenging them to fights?!"  
"What else am I supposed to do?! I've already graduated high school, remember?"  
"Oh, I don't know- go to college, maybe?!"  
Crying out in frustration, Hiro roughly dragged his hands down each cheek, distorting his face by doing so. "I _told_ you, Tadashi, college is useless to me! Everything they teach me there is stuff I already know!"  
"You are_ unbelievable_ sometimes, you know that?!"

Aunt Cass stopped the car to wait for the traffic to move and scowled at her nephews over her shoulder. "Both of you, _stop it!_ I don't care _whose_ fault it was that we had to leave, we just did, and that's that."  
"Isn't anyone even _listening_ to me?! I could've-"  
"Hiro, you're grounded."  
"What?! That's not fair! Tadashi-"  
Cass gave him a warning look, and he decided that it was best to shut up. He glowered moodily and resumed his position leaning against the car door, ignoring the obnoxious sigh from his older brother.

After that, there was no more speaking. Hiro was glad about that- he wasn't sure how much longer he could last with the two of them yelling at him.  
It wasn't fair. Neither of them understood. Both of them were leading normal lives, just like everyone else's. Both of them had sailed their way through school at the same rate as others their age, and they had _time_ to make friends, learn new things, decide what they wanted to do with their futures. He didn't. In fact, he had been catapulted through school like a blur, never going slow enough to make any friends or learn anything new or even _consider_ where he was going to go next. He was only fourteen, and already, everyone seemed to be expecting him to make a decision and do everything right all the time, just because he was smart enough to get through school this quickly.

Some time passed- he wasn't sure how long, he was too lost in his thoughts- and the car started moving again. He stayed this way for most of the journey; all of that angry ranting in his brain had taken him onto some pretty sensitive subjects, and it left him feeling quite low. Stupid family. As much as he would probably regret saying it later, and realise that he was just being melodramatic, he was sometimes completely convinced that his family, or what was left of it, just didn't care about him anymore. They probably just wanted him to go to college because they cared, he knew that, but when they scolded him and constantly brought up how he would have to go to college someday, he wondered if they really knew how difficult it was to know what to do with your life when you were so young. Well, they wouldn't, would they?

* * *

The rain continued for hours. Even after they arrived at the new house, droplets still beat down relentlessly on the car's metal exterior. As such, everyone just grabbed as much as they could carry and bolted inside, although Aunt Cass had to scramble outside one more time in order to bring everything in, including Mochi, who wasn't too happy about being in a pet carrier. Tadashi stood on the sheltered doorstep to help her bring it all through the door, and by the time the two of them had turned their attention back to the other cases, the ones that belonged to Hiro had disappeared, along with the boy himself.

Tadashi spent the rest of the afternoon helping out his aunt with the unpacking downstairs. At least, with what they already had. The delivery men were going to bring the rest of the furniture in tomorrow, since their move was so short-notice and the company had been given no time to prepare. At least they had thought to pack sleeping bags, as well as lots of blankets and pillows, just for the first night. Still, those could wait. He could set his up just before going to sleep, actually, he would have enough time.

While he unpacked one of the boxes, he fished out something he never remembered seeing before. It was a little ragdoll, his large hand managing to cradle the body as its limbs and head submitted to the laws of gravity. Scarily, it looked just like his brother. Every feature was resembled exactly; his unkempt black hair, recreated with string; the cheeky grin stitched into the doll's face; even the same clothes that his little brother wore so often, replicated so well in minature versions that fit the small, stuffed body. What he noticed the most, though, were the black buttons, the only thing distancing this bundle of cotton and stuffing from Hiro. They were beady and soulless, nothing like the real boy's bright eyes, which shone so much that it was almost possible to see the constant influx of ideas swirling around in them.

Speaking of Hiro, he wondered why the kid wasn't helping unpack. He figured that his little brother must have still been frustrated and upset over their little argument in the car, or getting grounded. Possibly both. Probably both. Naturally, as a big brother, he felt guilty. He hadn't meant to make his brother _this_ distressed, if at all. He supposed that he could just put it down to the strain of college becoming heavier with his reckless little brother to deal with, as well as an unexpected change of location. That didn't excuse him for being so harsh, though. When the unpacking was finished, he'd go apologise. For now, though, he wanted to know what this doll was all about.

"Hey, Aunt Cass. What's this?" Tadashi held up the doll by its arm, and it swayed lifelessly in his hand. He watched the woman look up curiously, then frown a little.  
"I don't know... I've never seen that before." Tilting her head a little to study the object, she narrowed her eyes in focus. "Is that Hiro?"  
"I think it is... If neither of us have ever seen it, Hiro must have made it." He chuckled a little bit. "I didn't know he could sew." Already, he had plenty of lighthearted jokes he could make about that to tease the younger boy. Quite often, one of them would start winding the other up, and it would keep going back and forth, both trying to push the other further and further, but it wasn't as cruel as it sounded. The whole time, the both of them would be laughing and joking, because they both knew that, unless it was about something serious, their little wars were always joking.  
That didn't apply to earlier.

Once again, Tadashi's focus went back to Hiro himself. He hoped the little guy was okay- he would probably be over it by morning. Maybe not the grounding, but, well, Aunt Cass could be very lenient sometimes. There were plenty of times in his youth where he or his brother, sometimes both, would be punished, and she would completely forget- that, or she just chose not to carry out her promise of grounding them. Other times, she'd stay firm until the end. It was hard to predict with that woman. In any case, he wanted to say sorry to Hiro. Of course it wasn't _his_ fault those men had broken into the café, but he just wanted him to understand that these sorts of things were the consequences that bot fighting had. Maybe, once he did, he would stop his reckless behaviour for good.

"Uh, Aunt Cass? Do you mind finishing the unpacking for me? I wanted to go apologise to Hiro for what happened in the car."  
Cass looked up sympathetically, with a hint of pride. "Of course, sweetie. That's very mature of you. I can handle the rest of the unpacking. Oh- when you're done with that, could you take those outside to the trash?" She pointed at three boxes on the kitchen counter, brightly-coloured and flashy on the outside, but dull and greasy inside. They were the remnants of the Hamadas' dinner, and once would have contained burgers, fries and tiny bags of fruit. Aunt Cass had picked them up on the way to the house and they had eaten in the car to provide them with something in their stomachs until she went grocery shopping the next day.

"Sure. I'll handle it." Tadashi meekly accepted a hug from the shorter but older lady, then made his way upstairs. It felt strange, not seeing the usual family photos lining the walls, but he supposed they would appear some time in the next few days. It also came to his notice that the staircase here seemed much more extensive than the ones back home. Home... It would take a while for him to disassociate the café with his home. They lived here now, no matter how much he missed the Lucky Cat.

The further he walked, the darker it seemed to become, and it came to his notice that there weren't any lights on upstairs. Weird... He knew that Hiro wasn't afraid of the dark, but he always had some sort of light on if he was busy with a project or doodling or whatever else he did in his spare time. Granted, they didn't have any lamps or anything with them, that would all come with the rest of the furniture tomorrow, but there were still the built-in lights, which he figured Hiro would have turned on if he was doing something.

Soon enough, he reached the top step. From here, the top floor stretched out in a what he could only describe as an angular C-shape around him. There was six doors, and he knew what each of them was; one would be a room for him and Hiro to share (they may have been brothers, and they may have fought sometimes, but they still enjoyed each other's company), one would be Aunt Cass' room, one would be the bathroom, one would be a spare bedroom, one would be a study for Tadashi (Hiro, too, when he finally applied to college), and the other, he supposed, would be a spare room. The trouble was, he didn't know which door belonged to which room. As such, he had to switch on the corridor light and peep into each of them, and it took him about four tries until he located his and Hiro's room.

It was probably one of the biggest rooms in the house, second only to the living room downstairs. Sure, on first glance, he didn't like it as much as their attic bedroom back at the café, but he couldn't judge it that harshly yet, since there was practically nothing in it. Although it was pretty dark in here, too, he could just about make some things out; there were some open cases against the far wall, and some stuff was placed somewhat messily across the room, like some games consoles, handfuls of palm-sized robots that he assumed his brother had created, and there, lying in a big bundle of sheets and pillows on the left side of the room, was the kid himself.

Honestly, that boy had changed so much. It seemed like only yesterday that Hiro was a chubby little toddler, curled up under the sheets with his thumb in his mouth, noiseless and adorable. Now he was a skinny little adolescent, and he wasn't quite so cute. He lay on his back with his limbs spread everywhere; his left thigh and torso were entwined with the thin blanket that was supposed to sit on top of the quilt, and Tadashi wondered how his genius of a little brother could be so stupid as to choose that flimsy old thing over proper sheets. The knucklehead didn't even get changed, only having taken off his hoodie and trainers, and he was snoring loudly with his jaw hanging open, revealing his overbite and the gap between his two front teeth.

Grinning like the adoring big brother he was, Tadashi dropped the doll, scooped up the bundle of thick bedsheet resting a few inches away from the younger boy's fingers and draped it over him. Hiro's brow furrowed slightly- Tadashi figured he must have felt the gust of air when the sheet descended- but his face loosened again pretty soon, and his content was shown by the particularly loud snore that followed.  
"Jeez, you sound like a broken foghorn when you sleep..."

"Says you, ya big buffoon," came the unexpected, sleepy reply, as a bare foot nudged his leg weakly in what was probably meant to be a kick.  
"Oh... Hiro, you're, uh, awake..." Tadashi murmured, then sighed and didn't stop to beat around the bush. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I guess I was just tired and stuff. That still didn't give me the right to snap at you, I know, but-"  
"It's okay, you can make it up to me by buying me gummy bears tomorrow." Hiro grinned cheekily yet tiredly at the older boy, who just rolled his eyes. "Now, be quiet, would ya? I'm trying to take a nap."

"Oh. Sorry." Wasn't it a bit early to be going to bed? At least, by Hiro's standards, it should have been. The kid went to bed later than him sometimes. Oh, well- he probably just stayed up too late last night or something.  
He felt something soft come into contact with his shoe as he moved to turn around. Upon looking down, he saw the doll again, smiling vacantly up at him, completely devoid of any sort of emotion. It gave him chills, but at the same time, the little guy was rather charming.  
"Ah- I almost forgot. Sorry, Hiro, gotta keep you up for a little longer." He kicked the doll across the floor towards him, and the noise of cotton against wood made Hiro open his eyes curiously. "Found this in one of the boxes we packed. Gotta give it to you, it's not bad."

Barely able to bring himself to do it, Hiro begrudgingly sat up, his face twisting in confusion upon seeing the mini-him. He picked it up by the leg. "You think _I_ made this?"  
That made Tadashi frown. "You mean, you didn't?"  
"No, Tadashi. I might be a robotics _genius_, but I'm no good at sewing." That quickly brought the smile back to his young face and he fell back on his makeshift bed, squirming back into the sleeping bag he had somehow ended up lying on top of.

"Weird..." The satirical bragging flew straight past him. How could that get in there if Hiro didn't make it? Well, someone had to have done it. Whatever, it wasn't that big a deal. "Do you like it?"  
"Pfft. I guess. I mean, it's cool that it's of me, but I'm not into dolls."  
"... Right," the eldest agreed suspiciously as he watched the hand holding the ragdoll slip under the covers with him.

Hiro shifted a little bit more, then yawned in a moderately exaggerated way. Tadashi got the message and whispered a soft 'oh', starting to make his way out. However, much like an affectionate parent, he stopped in the doorway and looked back at the teen. "Goodnight, Hiro. Don't steal too much of that bedding- I've gotta use some, too."  
"Yeah, whatever, night to you, too. And turn that light off, or at least shut the door." Like a vampire shielding itself from the sunlight with his cape, the small figure lying amongst the bedding pulled the duvet over his head to shield himself.  
The grumpy, drowsy side of Hiro always amused him, shown by his little chuckle. "Will do bud."

* * *

Once the door had clicked close and those soft footsteps had trudged back downstairs, Hiro fished into his sleeping bag, grasping the doll and pulling it back out in front of his face. Now he had the chance to look it over, he actually found it quite endearing, with its beady little eyes and it's brazen little smile. Though he had never been one for cuddly things, always having preferred plastic figurines and metal robots to soft and squishy stuffed animals when he was a child, he quite liked this little guy.  
"G'night, little me," he murmured subconsciously to it. For a moment, he knitted his brows, puzzled as to why he was being so childish and talking to a doll, of all things. Did he really have so few friends? _Well, I guess I do,_ he thought to himself as he rolled onto his side, with his new companion pressed to his cheek.


	2. Pushing All the Wrong Buttons

**God, this chapter was a long one.**

**Once again, all I can say is thank you! Chapter one got some really nice feedback, and knowing that you guys enjoyed it is what kept me writing this huge chapter. I wrote a lot in this one, because I really wanted to get to the actual Coraline plot as quickly as possible, and I felt like splitting this chapter in two and having three chapters of disposition and stuff was a bit much, so here's all the setting up out of the way. Next chapter, we get to the ****_really_**** fun stuff, I promise!**

* * *

**Chapter Two:** _Pushing All the Wrong Buttons_

"Morning, Hiro. I see you've brought your little friend with you."  
Eyes widening at the statement, Hiro tried to act natural- badly, much to his brother's amusement. "Uh- no, no, I just- I just brought it down to show Aunt Cass. I-I don't like this doll, _no,_ I mean, look at it!"  
"Well, tough guy, I've already seen it," Aunt Cass chimed in, taking Tadashi's side on this one. "But, if you don't want it, I'll just toss it out."  
_"No!"_ Hiro paused as he realised his mistake. Both of his family members raised their eyebrows at him, and he forced a stupid grin. "Nah, it's fine, Aunt Cass. I mean, I'll just put it away somewhere, I'll give it away to someone I trust. W-wouldn't want anyone damaging my face, haha...?"

Tadashi exchanged a glance with Cass, both of them looking equally as amused, so Hiro hurriedly changed the subject as he leapt to sit down on the floor with his brother and wait for his breakfast to be served. Well, they didn't have any furniture yet, this was their only choice. "Oh, yeah! I had the craziest dream last night. There were these people, and they had buttons for eyes!" He made circles with his thumbs and index fingers and held them up to his eyes, trying to simulate buttons.

The eldest Hamada brother frowned, looking up from his half-empty plate. His breakfast was a microwaved dish, and Hiro's heart sank in disappointment as he realised that his food wouldn't be much different. They didn't have anywhere to store or cook proper food yet, since they had only been able to fit the microwave in the car, and it would probably be a while before everything was sufficiently set up to make a proper meal. "Is that doll giving you nightmares?"  
"No, it wasn't a nightmare. Everyone was dancing and singing and laughing, and I was there, too."

Aunt Cass was prepared when the microwave let out an ear-splitting screech. Not even having to look, she slipped on an oven glove, plucked out a bowl, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and knelt down to place it in front of Hiro. "Did_ you_ have button eyes?" The woman was clearly less concerned and much more captivated by the tale than old-man-Tadashi opposite him was.  
"No... I wasn't there, really. I was just watching, I guess."

Hiro's voice was one of severe disappointment; he had just looked down at his breakfast, and it looked vile. Instant noodles... Normal noodles were delicious, as well as _some_ easy-cook brands, but these... These were that same disgusting, pale yellow colour that they had been in the bag. It seemed like his aunt had turned away before she could see his wrinkled nose, but when he made eye contact with Tadashi again, the latter gave him a look as if to say, 'just eat it'. Hiro knew he had to, it was all they had, and he didn't want to upset Aunt Cass, even though she seemed equally miserable about not being able to cook like she loved to. Gingerly, he picked up a few stray noodles and forced them into his mouth, silently gagging as they slithered down his throat.

This torture continued for a little while, so much so that he could barely focus on the conversation between Cass and Tadashi. All he could do now was make horrible retching noises, and force himself to do so quietly, both to keep his aunt in a good mood and so as to not put Tadashi off his own dish. It wasn't fair- his looked so much more tasty, at least as far as microwave meals went. Now he wished he had woken up early enough to make food himself.  
About ten minutes passed; he had struggled with swallowing about half of the bowl, and he physically couldn't make himself eat any more. He nudged the noodles away from him, towards the doll of himself, which lay on the floor a few feet away from him.

In the next half an hour or so, he waited around idly until Tadashi hurried off to college. Before Aunt Cass could ask why he hadn't finished his breakfast, he speedily thanked her and darted upstairs, the limp cotton body swinging in his hand. With the energy of the sprightly fourteen-year-old that he was, he dived up the staircase until he reached the room where he and Tadashi slept. It barely had anything in it, yet it still managed to look a mess with what little possessions had been unpacked strewn all over the floor. Neither of the boys were particularly tidy. Swinging around the door frame, he tossed the doll onto his makeshift bed.

How it landed in the right way and place to leave it sitting up and facing him so perfectly, he didn't know, but it made Hiro let out a cheer and punch the air, beginning to jump around in exhilirated glee. "Yes! Yes! Oh yeah, I've _still_ got it!" If only Tadashi had been there to see that. There would have been a riot in here. At least, he liked to think so. Maybe he would have been here to celebrate that phenomenal throw with him, if he didn't spend so much time at his college, San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Still, he was too busy going crazy over that fantastic aim to care about that right now.

"Oh, man..." He stopped jumping and pushed his bird's nest of a fringe back, but it still returned to its position on his forehead. The kid panted a little and watched the doll with a grin on his face. He was starting to get attached to this little guy.  
He huffed in amusement. "C'mon, you gotta give me that one. That was good." Copying his stuffed counterpart's positioning, he slumped and tilted his head at an angle. "What're you looking at me like that for? I'm the_ real_ you. You're, like, Hiro 2.0." He paused. That was _good_... he liked that.

Straightening up again, he chuckled. He'd better go shower- he was planning to go exploring today, and see if there was anything interesting to do around here. Once he'd grabbed a change of clothes to take into the bathroom with him, and given one last, amused grin to Hiro 2.0, he marched out of the bedroom and into the bathroom just across the hall, locking the door behind him.

It was only a few minutes later that Hiro emerged again, having changed into a plain black t-shirt and light brown chinos that were a bit loose around his hips. He rubbed a small white towel on his wet hair, still humming the tune that he had been loudly singing while he was washing, and nudged his bedroom door open with his foot in order to enter again. Absentmindedly, he slipped his tongue into the gap in his slightly askew front teeth, and the tip trailed over his overbite. It came to his notice, though, as soon as he pushed the door shut and halted his little song, that the doll wasn't there.

"Huh?" The real Hiro frowned, and he contorted his face in puzzlement. Where could it have gone? He shrugged it off- Aunt Cass may have just come in and moved it while he was showering. Still, wouldn't she have made the bed while she was at it? The sheets still laid in a crumpled heap on the floor. Huh... That was odd. It was starting to stick on his mind now. But he didn't pay_ too_ much attention to it. After all, it was no big deal, and he had other things to be doing.

While he was up here, he darted over to one of his suitcases and snatched up two things- his mobile phone, and a denim jacket with all sorts of patches sewn onto it in various places. That included a San Fransokyo Ninjas patch of Tadashi's that was never put to any other use, which decorated the chest pocket, and the SFIT logo on his left forearm. It was also a bit frayed in a few places. He thought it looked pretty cool. He'd had this old thing for years, but it fit now better than it ever had.  
Grabbing a black and white striped belt as well, he secured it around his waist, and tugged on a pair of grey socks. Once his phone was safe and secure in his pocket, he bolted outside, and slid down the banister.

As he scurried back into the living room, he slid across the glossy wooden floor and called to Aunt Cass as he passed the breakfast bar. "I'm going out!"  
"Not with wet hair, you're not," Aunt Cass told him firmly, looking over her shoulder at him as she washed the dishes. "You'll get sick."  
"I know, I know." He dug through one of the stray boxes until he pulled out Cass' bubblegum pink hairdryer, practically shoved the plug into the nearest socket and began blasting air out. It comically warped his face as it blew right into it, and he ducked his head a bit to move the force to his hair.

While he watched Mochi scatter past him with a screech, he took amusement in turning the dryer around to blow the cat's retreating figure. Then he switched the device off, just as Aunt Cass approached him, and she laughed at the way his hair looked as if thousands of volts of electricity had just been pumped through his body.  
"Where are you going to go? Oh! Are you going to apply for college?!" She grinned sweetly, but to Hiro, it was bitter. Of course she would ask that. All she ever seemed to care about anymore was getting him out of their home faster. He noticed her smile falter very quickly- he must have showed his displeasure in his expression.

"... No. I was just going to the park," Hiro mumbled. He'd seen it on the way here, and had thought it would be fun to take Baymax with him, just to goof around, to pass some time. Now the thought of stupid college had rained on his parade... There was a rush of anger inside him. Without even thinking, he turned back to his aunt and raised his voice a little. "I can't even apply until the next showcase! So just get off my back, will you?!"

Cass looked hurt by his shouting, but Hiro was so irritated at this point that he didn't care. With a huff of anger, he turned on his heel; he cried out, hearing it come out unexpectedly aggressively, and heard the distant sound of inflation somewhere upstairs. Soon enough, squeaky footsteps came into earshot, and gradually increased in volume until the overgrown marshmallow reached the top of the stairs.  
"Good morning," he said in his ever robotic voice. As usual, he was putting his emphasis on all the wrong words, but the Hamadas just found it so endearing that they had never bothered to tamper with it. With some more squeaking, he waddled down each step. "Do you need my assistance?"

"No, Baymax. I was just calling you, buddy." Hiro no longer sounded as bad-tempered as he _had_ felt, just down. During the time that Baymax took to struggle down each step, he shoved his feet into a pair of trainers, and had begun to lace them up. "We're going out. Do you feel like going to the park?"  
Baymax blinked. Clearly, he didn't understand.  
"I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

Hiro sat down on one of the swings and sighed, rubbing his face to try and calm his temper.  
"I have detected changes in your body's cholesterol and adrenaline levels. Your emotional state is becoming unstable. Diagnosis: anger." Baymax shuffled to stand beside his friend.  
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm just annoyed... It's nothing to worry about."

For a moment, then there was silence, and then there was more squeaking; this time, though, it was much, much louder. When Hiro looked to his right, the bot was forcing himself between the two chains that held the swing beside him to the frame. If he wasn't in such a foul mood, it would have been amusing, but as it was, he couldn't even crack a smile.  
Finally, he managed to squash his fat body in, and started to lower himself into the seat with just as much difficulty. He didn't bother to watch that, though, and looked up instead.

The sky was grey and bleak. A thick layer of dull, smoky clouds lay overhead; Hiro wondered if it meant bad weather was ahead. He considered asking Baymax, but he wouldn't know. Sometimes he forgot that the bot didn't know everything, although it was difficult to remember that when he spouted out obscure medical diagnoses every few minutes.

The colourless layer of cotton above them stretched out as far as the eye could see, right across San Fransokyo, and the boy had the dreary feeling that these miserable conditions wouldn't be lifting any time soon. Great. At least there wasn't really anyone else here, so there'd be plenty of space to take shelter. The only competition they would have were a group of four or five children, probably somewhere around seven years old from the looks of it, all gawping at the cute, inflatable creature beside him. Considering that this was quite a big park with plenty of trees, they wouldn't struggle to hide from any rain that might, hypothetically, fall.

Baymax just amount managed to squeeze himself into the seat. When he did, he sat there for a moment, struggling to move much at all; then he turned his head with a soft whirr to look at Hiro. Again, there was a pause. It was a few seconds before he managed to heave his arms out of their compressed position so that he could grab the chains. That was when Hiro figured out what he was doing- he was trying to copy what _he_ was doing to use the swing properly. That was... cute, he supposed. Aunt Cass would probably say so, if she was here.

Lightly, Hiro pushed off the floor with his feet, just to make himself rock back and forth a little. Subsequently, he dug his heels into the ground to make the swing stop dead, and watched Baymax expectantly.  
Once again, it seemed to take a minute for him to comprehend that, but he soon did his best to mimic those movements. Naturally, they weren't identical, seeing as how his feet weren't nearly as rigid, and he didn't have heels or toes or anything like that, but he managed to simply place his rounded feet down and halt his swaying.

Managing a small grin, Hiro stood up. "Stay there, Baymax. I'll push you."  
"Pushing is not nice," Baymax responded matter-of-factly. "Tadashi would not be happy if you did that."  
"No, big guy, I'm _supposed_ to do that. Watch this." Moving behind his much bigger friend, he stretched his fingers.  
"I cannot watch you. You are standing behind me."  
"It's just an expression."

With a gentle push, Baymax was swinging back and forth in front of him, and Hiro occasionally had to move back a little more to avoid getting hit. He wasn't pushing him very high yet; he was taking it slow, not wanting to the damage the bot. Tadashi would be furious if he let this guy come to harm in any way whatsoever, since he had spent god knew how many sleepless nights assembling him, getting the coding perfect, doing everything he could to make him the ideal medical assistant. He'd have to treat him with care, even if he seemed competent enough to take care of himself.

Hiro's mood gradually lightened, especially when he noticed the children's bulging eyes and gaping jaws, presumably because of how Baymax actually spoke. The exasperation left behind by Aunt Cass was fading away, and he decided to have a little fun; when Baymax came catapulting back towards him, he grabbed the chains and pulled himself up, managing to find a tiny area of footing around that big inflatable body where he could stand. "Hold on tight, bud," he warned, "We're going higher."

By tugging on the chains, bending his knees and applying his weight to different places, he managed to swing himself and his bulbous white friend more and more, each forward motion bringing them higher still. Being the reckless kid that he was, Hiro was perfectly capable of reaching a point where he would almost be at a ninety degree angle from the ground, but now that he had the responsibility of making sure Baymax made it through this untouched, he decided against that. Somewhere between the roar of wind and moving air in his ears, he heard a monotone voice speak the word, "Wheeee...", and he couldn't help laughing at the robot's attempts to be more humanoid.

It wasn't until the clap of thunder and an immediate, rather forceful downpour of water, as well of the sound of liquid against Baymax's thin vinyl skin, that he even acknowledged the storm that had been brewing, and was now crashing down upon them. A few feet away, the kids who had previously been transfixed by the bot were screaming and fleeing from the rain; Hiro simply sighed, his mood once again brought down, and began to slow down their movement until Baymax could gently place his feet down so they could reach a standstill. Hiro hopped off the swing and began to scramble towards shelter. Despite this, he only took a few steps before he realised that he wasn't being followed, and turned back to face the bot.

Baymax stared completely blankly at him. That was only natural, as he had no way of changing his facial expressions, nor did he have emotions in the first place. However, he seemed to be struggling to get out of his position, now wedged into the swing and unable to get himself out.  
Hiro groaned. "Damn it, Baymax!" he complained as he strode back over to help him out. He moved around to his back and began to push, although it was kind of difficult due to how squishy the robot was, as well as how slippery his body had become. Still, he eventually managed to pop Baymax free, which resulted in his own downfall as he slipped, landing on his stomach on the swing. "Ow..."

"I was alerted to your need for medical attention when you said: ow." Baymax peered down at Hiro and scooped him up.  
"H-hey! Baymax, put me down, I'm fine!" The slightly winded fourteen-year-old wriggled in order to try and free himself, but to no avail, as he was cradled like a small child by the robot.  
"You are facing respiratory troubles. Diagnosis-"  
"Can we just get out of the rain, please?!"

* * *

Grumpily, Hiro thumped on the door. Both he and Baymax stood on the doorstep, dripping wet, and the former was shivering slightly from the cold. Obviously, the latter couldn't feel it- he was only made to heal people from their pain, after all. What would be the point of making him feel anything himself?

Mere seconds later, Aunt Cass opened the door. "Oh, look at both of you, you're soaked!" she exclaimed as she ushered them both inside. "Come on, let's get you both warmed up. I'll grab you some hot wings, if you want? Oh- before I forget, the furniture is coming this afternoon, and..."  
At that point, Hiro spaced out of her conversation, squelching his feet out of his soaking wet trainers. At least she seemed to have forgiven him for yelling earlier... Not that it excused his actions at all, and he'd probably apologise at some point, but for now, he wanted to go warm up.

Baymax didn't dry off at all and began to waddle through the house almost immediately, leaving a trail of water droplets and puddles from his feet on the floor behind him. He disappeared somewhere into the lounge, and Hiro heard that metallic voice greet Tadashi politely, before noticing the amount of voices. He frowned and looked over his shoulder at Aunt Cass.  
She stared back with wide eyes, a half-eaten chocolate doughnut in her hand, and puffy cheeks. Chewing quickly and tossing the dessert aside, she spoke through her full mouth. "Oh, yeah. Tadashi has his friends over, too. Go say hello, if you want."

Before he could really do much else, he turned on his heel to find a girl, probably around Tadashi's height, if not taller, charging towards him. The only thing he really took in were the pink frames of her glasses, bright green eyes and a flash of blonde hair before his world went into a blur, and he was swept off his feet, cuddled close to someone's body.  
"You must be Hiro~!" she chirped, and he was suddenly pushed away to find a young lady dressed all in pink and yellow standing in front of him.

"Tadashi has told us _all about you!_ I'm so glad to finally meet you." Suddenly, she leaned down to kiss both of his cheeks, and it was only then that she seemed to notice that he was drenched to the bone, at which point she looked down at the wet patch on her front, then smiled sheepishly at him.  
"Hiro, this is my friend, Honey Lemon," Tadashi spoke up, smiling between the two of them, then doing a double take at Hiro before sniggering a little. The younger of the brothers simply stuck his tongue out.

"Hey, little man. No one told us you were going swimming." A big, burly guy with an equally large grin walked over, towering above him like a building. It took a lot of effort not to gape at him, since he appeared to be a pretty tough dude.  
"Wasabi, don't tease him!" Honey Lemon protested, and Hiro noted not only the strange names Tadashi's friends had, but the embarrassed grin on Wasabi's face.  
"I spilt wasabi on my shirt _one time_," he quietly assured the younger boy, only to startle him when he screeched, jumped and shook a plastic spider out of the back of his sweater. "_Fred!_ You _know_ I don't like spiders!"

Hiro's fantasies of the strong, muscular science superhero that was Wasabi immediately shattered. Talk about a big baby... As the man moved aside, a significantly shorter and skinnier guy swaggered over, long blond hair spilling out from under his beanie. He offered a hand to shake.  
"The name's Fredzilla. You can call me Fred for short." Fred swiped his hand back when Hiro went to shake. "Too slow! Got ya there, dude."

"And who are you?" Hiro questioned as he peered around Fred. There was another girl standing there, probably not much taller than himself, but she stood out from the others in the sense that she seemed much more reserved and... bitter was the wrong word, but it was the only way he could describe the face she was making at him.  
Tadashi stepped in. "That, my friend, is Gogo Tomago, the fastest rider San Fransokyo has ever seen." He looked over at the shorter girl, who just huffed.  
"Great. Another one to babysit." Something in her tone of voice told him she was joking, even though both her face and voice were dead serious. Then a small smile graced her lips and she ruffled the younger's soaked, yet still erratic hair. "Take an umbrella next time, kid."

Hiro only gave a goofy smile at the comment. "Will do," he told her as he looked up at Baymax, whose torso was turning orange as heat radiated off him. "Woah! Let me have some, big guy," he commented as he scrambled over to the bot and leaned against his tummy. A pair of warm, chubby arms wrapped around him and began to warm up, too; the teenager sighed in relief and slumped.

"So, guys, what do you say we get back to the lab once the rain lets up?" Tadashi suggested, to everyone else's agreement. There was a chorus of hums, and Hiro couldn't help feeling a little jealous that he couldn't come, too.  
Wasabi looked over at him. "Who knows? Maybe Hiro over here will be joining us sometime."  
Tadashi seemed to visibly deflate a little at Hiro's expression. Everyone else also seemed a bit shocked, and Wasabi a little guilty, as he slipped out of the robot's arms before grabbing them. "Baymax and I should go dry off," he said curtly. Behind him, the big balloon man was trying to say goodbye to each person individually, but didn't manage to get through everyone before he was being tugged upstairs.

When he reached his destination, Hiro snatched up some dry clothes for himself, then stormed into the bathroom, pulled Baymax in with him and slammed the door.  
"Even Tadashi's dumb friends want me to go to nerd school," he ranted, peeling himself out of his wet t-shirt and rubbing his torso dry with a towel. "Why does everyone want me to go _right now?!_ I have my whole_ life_ to get into nerd school if I wanted to! If I were a normal kid, I'd only just have gotten into high school, I have plenty of time to get into college! Why don't they realise that?!" Growling to himself, he roughly rubbed the towel on his hair to dry it off.

"Hiro, your anger is getting worse. Suggestions to calm yourself down: go for a walk. Cry. Dance. Find a quiet place to sit. Use a stress ball. Breathe deeply. Meditate. Listen to music. Eat. Do something you enjoy. Sleep. Write down your feelings. Lau-"  
"Okay, Baymax, I get it," Hiro snapped, then sighed as he pulled on the dry shirt, one that matched Tadashi's signature cap. He turned back to the bot. "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out." Standing on his tiptoes, he began to wipe down the vinyl skin gently.

"There is no cause for concern. Tadashi did not program me to feel sadness or anger."  
Hiro nodded. "Of course he didn't..." He pulled the nearby stool over with his foot and stood on it so he could mop up the water from Baymax's head and shoulders. "It just gets to me, you know? I have all the time in the world to apply to college. High school was hard enough, I was so much younger than everyone there. Do you even know how many people picked on me, Baymax? Even if it was just once, or meant to be a joke, it still..." His voice faltered for a moment. "It still hurt..."

Once again, his temper rose, and he huffed. "And now they're expecting me to go to _nerd school?_ Can't I at least wait until I'm, like, Tadashi's age or something?! I just wanna fit in, Baymax. I've never, ever fit in before. I've always been the little _nerd_ at school, and there's a limit to what I can take, and what-" He mimicked Aunt Cass' voice. "_'Don't worry, sweetie, they're just jealous'_ fixes! I just..." A sigh escaped him. "I'm sick of it, Baymax. I don't wanna go to college. Not yet, anyway. There's a lot of reasons, but I don't wanna go." He chuckled dryly. "I'm not sure why I'm telling you this. You don't understand human emotion."

"Hiro." Baymax's arm whirred as it lifted, and pointed at the sink. Silence fell, and only the sound of water dripping against the wash basin could be heard as Hiro turned his head.  
There, leaning against the hot tap, was Hiro 2.0. Completely blankly, he stared at the two of them.  
"Hiro 2.0..." The real Hiro frowned, dropped the towel, and stepped off the stool to walk over to the doll and pick it up. "You_ definitely_ weren't in here when we came in... That's really creepy."

* * *

Darkness had long since fallen. It was rather early to be going to bed, for the Hamada brothers' standards, but after an afternoon of helping move furniture into the house and stressing out over how to re-assemble what they had taken apart, they were tired enough to retreat back to their bedroom, and to at least pretend that they weren't in the mood for dinner, if only to give Aunt Cass a chance to rest.

All the furniture had been set up in their bedroom, as similarly as they could make it to their attic back at the Lucky Cat without the unique room shape or as much space. Tadashi sat on his side of the room, tinkering with something on his desk, presumably for his college work. Meanwhile, Hiro lay in bed; he was bored out of his mind, and considering going to sleep. After all, it wasn't like he had anything else to do; no homework to take to the school he no longer attended, no ways of sneaking out to a bot fight, no _ideas_ for the bots he would take, not even any miscellaneous schemes that he could use to mess with Tadashi. _Nothing._

Right now, he looked pretty ridiculous, and Tadashi had made sure to let him know about that earlier in the evening. He had changed into a pair of pyjamas, blue with little red robots dotted about all over them, and that would look silly enough, if not for the fact that they were a good few sizes too small. The bottoms were too short for his legs, exposing his ankles, but the shirt still fit- he had had these for years, and when he had bought them, Aunt Cass had somehow managed to buy a shirt big enough to fit Tadashi instead of the ones that matched the pants she had picked out. Her excuse was that everything in the bargain bin had been jumbled up, but he had never quite believed that. Sure, the whole 'huge shirt' look hadn't been so bad when he was seven, but now he just looked like an idiot, and a magnet for his older brother's teasing.

Tonight, though, that mocking hadn't lasted long. Tadashi had soon stopped when he noticed how Hiro really hadn't been interested, not playfully fighting back or telling him to shut up like he usually did. Of course, the younger brother was still angry about the whole nerd school lecture, which he had heard three times today- yes, there had been an extra one at the dinner table, causing the youngest Hamada to get up and leave his half-eaten dinner. Still, that one had been from Aunt Cass. The elder brother seemed to be avoiding the topic altogether now, thank god.

His stomach rumbled and he moaned while placing both hands over his stomach. Those were the only sounds that could be heard in the room, besides the light metallic noises from Tadashi's fiddling, and the low hum from the heaters that were temporarily keeping the room warm. Ugh... he wished he'd have brought the dinner up here with him and eaten it, because leaving it had left him starving.  
Hearing signs of life from his little brother must have alerted Tadashi; at first, he had seemed to be doing everything to avoid conversation with Hiro, although he occasionally threw pitiful glances his way, for whatever reason. Now he span around in his office chair to face his little brother and sighed. Hiro didn't even look up.

"Hiro... I heard you talking to Baymax earlier. In the bathroom."  
That surprised the teenager a little bit. His brow furrowed and his cheeks flushed, and he turned onto his left side to turn away from Tadashi. Stupid brother... eavesdropping on his private conversations.  
"I-I'm sorry, Hiro... I really am. I didn't know you felt that way, and... you're right, you don't have to go to college right now."  
"It's okay, Tadashi. Really, it is."

"No, no, Hiro, it's not. I'm such a bad big brother for pressuring you into-"  
Hiro sat up and threw the t-shirt he had been wearing that day, which was still cold and damp, at his brother. "Shut up. You're the best big brother I could ask for."  
That seemed to satisfy Tadashi for a moment, and he grinned a big, dorky grin that only ever came about when he was _really_ happy. Then it faltered, and the young man placed the shirt to one side before speaking again. "I just... want you to see mine and Aunt Cass' point of vie-"

"Oh my god. Tadashi, you were doing so well, and now look! Weren't you even listening when you stalked me and heard my conversation with Baymax?! You guys _keep_ asking me about college, and I can see why you want me to go, but I'm not ready yet!"  
"Okay, first of all, I wasn't stalking you, I just walked past and heard you yelling. Secondly, you're more than ready, Hiro, you're smart enough, and you can easily keep on top of the work if you dedicate yourself. You're just nervous, and you're being lazy because of it."  
_"Lazy?!"_ Hiro scowled, kicked the covers off, and threw himself out of bed. "Tadashi, I'm fourteen! I'm supposed to be starting high school and freaking out about getting lost and getting self-conscious about being the skinniest guy in my PE class and- and getting detentions and whatever else you did at high school, not having an existential crisis because my family can't get it into their heads that I don't wanna go to college yet! Can't you just leave me alone for one minute and let me figure out my own way?!"

Tadashi looked stung, and it was then that Hiro noticed how worked up he had gotten. Clenching his jaw, he took a deep breath through his nose and clambered back into bed, wrapping himself up in the covers and turning away from his sibling. "Whatever. I don't need this. I'm going to sleep, so don't disturb me."

He could still feel eyes on his back, but he ignored it. Even the murmured apology he heard from a few feet away didn't soothe him, nor did the thought that Tadashi really hadn't meant to rile him up, and was only trying to help. No, none of that helped, because he didn't care. If he heard about that stupid nerd school one more time, he was going to scream.  
It was this fury that eventually wore Hiro out, and that night, he didn't even snore contentedly like he usually did. He just breathed lightly, stayed dead still, and slept dreamlessly, all under the careful watch of a pair of black button eyes on his bedside table.


End file.
